


Blood doesn't make a family

by Dalamarf16



Category: Prison Break
Genre: Brothers, Gen, Hugs, Other, Post-Season/Series 04, Protective Michael, brotherly talk, brothers relationship, christine is a bad mother, lincoln and michael, lincoln needs a hug, papi - Freeform, talk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:47:09
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29028930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dalamarf16/pseuds/Dalamarf16
Summary: Set at the end on season 4. Michael, Lincoln, Sara and Sucre are now free. They just have to testify against The Company and they'll be free. Since the statements about their mother, Linc seems quite closed off regarding Michael, and Michael, being Michael, is worried. Has the revelation changed their feelings about each other? A heart to heart chat between brothers
Relationships: Lincoln Burrows & Michael Scofield
Kudos: 3





	Blood doesn't make a family

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone!   
> This is my first PB fanfiction. There’s no much I’d like to say, except that I’m in love with Michael and Lincoln brotherly relationship.  
> Only one note: I’m Italian, and this story has not been betaed. If someone will jump on this ship, I’ve another FF in progress. Also, I don’t mind if someone points out my mistakes!  
> Happy reading!

"Have you seen Linc?"

Michael asked Sara after having looked for him for almost half an hour. 

A week had passed since they were officially declared cleared and free to go; they've decided to go back to Panama, where Sophia and LJ were waiting for them to arrive, and from there rebuilt a life.

That would happen in about two weeks, after all the arrests would be done and they would have given their statements to the authorities.

For now, he, Sara, Linc and Sucre, were sharing a small house.

Everything was fine, except that Linc had barely talked to him in the last three days, after their statements about their mother.

They've required and obtained to do those together, so that they could support each other, but, from that moment, Linc had changed, and Michael couldn't really understand why, if he had said something that hurt him. Sure, he had to repeat what she said about him., and those were things no son should ever hear coming from a mother, he had also tried to make clear to him those were just crap, a useless try to put them one against the other, as if it could even be possible. 

"He's gone to buy something to eat. He said he would be back in a few." She answered in a sweet tone. "He'll be fine… he's free now." Sara, better than anyone, knew his greatest fear was that someone else would try to kill them, or drag them into some conspiracy. On the first night as free men, after his third nightmare, she had literally brought him into Linc's bed, understanding it was a night he physically needed to be with Linc. They've been silent, hoping not to wake the man up. He really needed his sleep too. She had stayed with him until he eventually fell asleep, only to find out Linc had been alert all the time; they ended up sleeping all together, since Lincoln thought that the nightmares will start again, only with her. She knew her words would not calm his fear, but, as he said more than once, she was trying.

Michael smiled and just nodded.

Maybe Sara was right; maybe he was just overreacting, still under the influence of the past months, be he was sure Linc was hiding something.

He kissed her and went outside, sitting beside Sucre.

"What's up, Papi?"

As usual, for some kind of reason, Fernando always knew when something was bothering him, and he had discovered that talking to him could be more useful than thinking about it alone.

"It's Linc… I don't know, Papi…" When had he started to call him back Papi? "Since the statements he barely talks to me, he passes all his time away from here, and when he's here… he barely looks at me. I'm worried…"

"It should not have been easy for the both of you. You just discovered your mom was alive and tried to kill you and your brother… she shot him in cold blood just to get what she wanted. She would have just looked at him dying slowly without blinking. That's not how you imagine your reunion with your not so dead mother."

"And discover in the meantime that you are not even his son…"

"What?! They adopted you two just to abandon you to work for the Company?"

Michael smiled at that. If Sucre thought that both of them were adopted, maybe, for some kind of magic, they were not so different, after all.

"No… just Lincoln. That… woman revealed it to me hoping maybe that that would change something, that… I don't know, that I would choose her and let Linc be framed for murder. Later, she told him after she shot him… just to hurt him even more, probably…"

"But it didn't change anything from your side, right?"

"Linc is the only family I've ever known since I was a kid. He gave literally everything for me. Nothing and no one will never change that, and even if I had known that before Fox River, there isn't a single thing I would've done differently. I don't regret anything."

"And… does he know that, Papi?".

Michael's head snapped up at that, and he looked at his best friend.

"Thanks, Papi. I gotta go."

Michael ran into the street and stopped there, looking around, trying to remember everything he knew from the small town they were in now. 

He remembered there was a small park, sliced in two sections by a river, and there he went. If Linc was thinking about them, about their childhood, there wouldn't be another possible place around.

Michael smiled when he found the familiar shape sitting next to the river.

"How did you find me?"

"The same way you knew I was here without even looking."

Michael stopped Lincoln from walking away placing his palm on his chest as he passed. "Linc. Please, talk to me."

His blue eyes locked into his brother's green, where he read more emotions than he could really name.

"Michael… " Lincoln tried to make a step forward, but the younger applied pressure on his chest again.

"Please. We went through too much… "

"That's exactly the whole point." Lincoln mutthered gingerly. Walking toward the river and sitting again. Michael followed suit, unconsciously mirroring his brother's position, something that, thinking about it since his mother had told him the truth, made him smile. No, they weren't so different, afterall.

"What do you mean?"

"You are an engineer, the smartest I know. You had a life, a nice job, a loft with a view… and… and you gave everything up for a stranger."

"I didn't exactly choose to be sent to Sona…" Michael pointed out, not really understanding what had Sona to do with them.

"I'm not talking about Whistler."

"I'm not following you, Linc."

"I'm talking about myself."

"Linc… it's true we didn't see each other that much, but you've never been a stranger to me. Even when we didn't agree about our… life choices."

Michael tried to joke, but he was starting to see where Linc's mind might be now.

"We are not brothers. Didn't you get the news?"

Michael had to admit that hearing that sentence, told like that, by Lincoln, hurt more than it should. He knew he was merely talking about blood relationship, and yet, he needed a minute before managing to speak his next words.

"That woman… told me." 

To Michael, Christina had definitely cut any possibility to be his mother the moment she shot Lincoln. 

"Your mother."

"The woman who gave me birth." He countered, "and, as I told you before, that doesn't change anything."

"If you knew that before, you wouldn't have to give everything up to take me out of there."

" _ You' _ d be the stranger you were talking about? Are you serious? Linc…"

"Don't Linc me."

"No. You now look me in the eyes and answer my question. Do it sincerely. I won't get mad.

If mom and dad would have told you you've been adopted when we were kids, say that they never hid the thing from you, that the moment mom got pregnant with me you already knew. Okay?" Lincoln just looked at him, so Michael went on. "Answer me honestly, okay? Knowing we weren't blood relatives, would you have acted differently?"

Michael knew he was risking the greatest pain possible asking that, because, honestly, if Lincoln answered that yes, he would probably die right there, but he also needed to know if he still had a brother, or not.

"What?" Lincoln definitely didn't expect that question. He sounded even offended by it. That was a good start for Michael.

"All you did for me since we were kids, small crimes to keep me put of the streets, all the shitty jobs you found to allow me to go to school, that bullshit about mom's insurance when I didn't have enough money for college…yes, Veronica told me you were  _ that _ stupid to think about me while you had a little kid to raise…"

"You deserved it." Lincoln shrugged.

"Look me in the eyes, Lincoln, and tell me if you did it because of the blood we share or if you did it out of love. Tell me if you'd have done the same knowing what we know now."

Lincoln hid his face into his arms, crossed on his bent knees, his shoulders slightly shaking. When he answered, Michael understood he was forcing his voice steady.

"When mom was pregnant, dad used to take a ton of pictures. I was like 4, and I remember that each month they took a picture together, to testify you growing inside of her. Once, I asked dad if they had done that when I was born too. I don't remember what he answered me, but I'm quite sure there was nothing like that for me. Later, when our parents died and they sold our old home, they gave me a box with all those pictures. I found it strange that there wasn't a picture of me before three years old, but I didn't think that much about it… until she told me that."

"I can't even imagine how hard that must be for you to hear that…"

" _ That _ didn't hurt that much. The world is full of adopted children and still… they are loved. What…" Lincoln stopped, his emotions for once in full display. The pain was clearly written into his voice, into his eyes and into his body, more curled up on himself as he spoke. Michael just waited, trying and failing to give Lincoln the space he needed. 

His voice betrayed the sense of abandon Linc was feeling, how these differences weighed on him even almost 35 years later, and Michael decided that whichever his answer would be, it didn't matter. Lincoln would never feel abandoned anymore. He got closer, until their sides were pressed together and took his hand. He was rewarded by Linc's immediate smile, which made him smile too.

By instinct, he knew what the answer would be. Still, he waited for Lincoln to finish.

"What hurts is that… she never loved me. Dad never truly loved me. Since you were born, mom barely acknowledged me. I told myself that you were little and needed more attention" Lincoln smiled again "and you were adorable. It was impossible not to love you." Michael felt himself blush. Lincoln half laughed at that and ruffled his hair, as much as that was possible giving how short he kept it. It was the pause he needed before his next words."And… I feel stupid because… I was with her all the time at the hospital… I cried when she died right in front of my eyes. I cried so hard they sedated me. She could have chosen any other time to fake her death… but no. She chose to make me a witness… and… then… s-she… she shot me. Why… why am I so wrong that even my adoptive mother didn't want me?"

"Linc…" Michael shifted and just held him like every kid should be held by his parents. For the first time he could remember, Lincoln just cried, his face hidden onto his shoulder and took all the comfort and love Michael was trying to give him with his touch and presence.

"Mike… I… didn't do anything just because of blood, or because I wanted to be loved by you." Lincon shared once he was calm again. The two brothers where now sat face to face, but Michael's hand didn't leave Lincoln's, who gladly accepted the small comfort. "You've always been better than that. Since you were a kid, it was impossible to buy you. It was a nightmare for our foster parents, but, for me, was the proof you really loved me. You've always had. Since you learnt how to walk, you passed all your time with me if I was at home, and now I understand why mom sometimes got angry for that reason. I love you Michael. And yes, even if I knew our blood is not the same, that does not change that. I would repeat every single stupid thing i've done to keep you safe and make you go to school."

Michael smiled and just nodded. 

"Why did you ask?"

"She shot you because of me, you know?"

"She wanted Scylla, and you had it."

"No. I mean, yes, but not only. I made her angry at you."

"Michael… not everything that happens to us is your fault."

"But this one is. I told you that it didn't change anything, remember?" Lincoln nodded. "To her, I said the extended version."

"Go on."

"She was trying to convince me she was good, that her cause was right and a lot of other crap. Then she tried with the motherly love, which said by the woman who abandoned us was kind of funny. Anyway, when she understood you were the only family I had and wanted, you and Sara, of course, she threw the you are not brothers card. She… thought she had a lever underlining our differences… but… the truth is, the more the showed me how different we may be, the more I saw how similar we are"

"Have you thought about…"

"What? Going with her? Not even for a second. Linc. You are my family. You are the one who raised me, since I was born. You took me to school, you were there if someone tried to bully me. You stayed with me when I got migraines and when I received so much information it seemed my head would explode. You were with me all my life, even when they tried to separate us. You went to prison for me. You risked your life to keep me out of the streets. You almost gave your life when I told you I couldn't go on studying because of money…"

"... and I was the one who destroyed your life."

"Fuck my Life, Linc! I don't want a life where you are not with me! My life is worth living because you are in it. And I don't give a shit we are not blood brothers! I said that once. I'll repeat again, and I don't want to hear another word about it. You've always been and you'll always be my brother. Nothing will never change that. You are stuck with me, Linc, whether you like it or not."

"I love you too."

Lincoln pressed a quick kiss on his brother's temple, before getting up and helping him up too.

Michael used the hand Lincoln had handled him to pull his brother into a tight and long hug. 

When they finally decided to separate, their eyes locked and they both knew that woman had failed. If possible, she added more glue to an already sealed bond. They were brothers in the most pure way.

Together, they walked back home.

"There's a thing I've always wanted to ask you."

"What?"

"Link the sink. Why?"

Lincoln laughed.

"Shut up,  _ Fish." _

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Leave a comment if you like!


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